1:57 PM,
Nov. 7, 2013

USC coach Ed Orgeron directs the Spirit of Troy marching band after their Nov. 1 game against Oregon State at Reser Stadium.

Written by

Dan Wolken
USA Today Sports

There was nothing Ed Orgeron could do about the messy ending at Ole Miss, about the pain of watching players he recruited win under another coach, about the Southeastern Conference chewing him up and turning him into a mumbling caricature, which hurt far more than he ever publicly let on. When you fail as spectacularly as Orgeron failed at being a college head coach, you pretty much disappear, and you don't ever expect another chance.

Still, almost every night for the past five years, Orgeron has kept a notebook that is part catharsis, part instruction manual. If somehow, some way, he ever got ...